Is It True : India losses access to 26 out of 65 patrolling points in eastern Ladakh?

Is It True?: PD Nitya, Senior Superintendent of Police in Leh, presented the report during the Intelligence Bureau’s annual Director General of Police Conference, which took place from January 20 to January 22 and was attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah. According to the media, the paper never was discussed.

As per Nitya’s report, Indian security personnel are no longer able to monitor the 26 patrolling stations located between the Karakoram Pass and the Chumur region in eastern Ladakh – a major flashpoint of border confrontations between India and China.

She further claimed that these areas, which earlier were patrolled by the Indian forces, have now been turned into “informal buffer zones”.

“Later on, China forces us to accept the fact that as such areas have not seen the presence of ISFs [Indian security forces] or civilians since long, the Chinese were present in these areas,” the paper noted, according to the report.

This leads to a shift in the area under India’s control and a buffer zone is created, the paper said. “This tactic of PLA [China’s People’s Liberation Army] to grab land inch-by-inch is known as salami slicing,” it added.

Also Read: US Supports India on Indo-China Border Clash

Indo-China Tensions

Since the troops battled in Galwan Valley in eastern Ladakh in June 2020, India and China have been stuck in a border dispute. The fight killed twenty Indian soldiers. China has estimated four casualties on its side.

Following numerous rounds of negotiations, India and China withdrew from Pangong Tso Lake in February and Gogra in August in eastern Ladakh.

However, in December, the two sides engaged in a new fight in Arunachal Pradesh’s Tawang area.

According to India’s defence ministry, Chinese soldiers attempted to change the status quo at the Line of Actual Control in the Tawang sector on December 9 by encroaching on the area, following which Indian troops retaliated.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh told Parliament on December 13 that the clash led to “minor injuries” to a few soldiers on both sides. After the face-off, both sides immediately disengaged from the area, he added.

On its part, China alleged that Indian troops illegally crossed a disputed border in the Tawang sector, leading to the scuffle.